Interest rates remain the same for the third quarter of 2024

IR-2024-138, May 9, 2024 — The Internal Revenue Service today announced that interest rates will remain the same for the calendar quarter beginning July 1, 2024Home Improvements & Previously Owned Clean Vehicle Energy Credits: IR-2024-137 —making certain energy efficient updates to your home could qualify you for home energy credits and clean vehicle credits with final regulations appear on IR-2024-131, May 3, 2024.To protect against identity theft, IRS adds additional protections to Centralized Authorization File, Transcript Delivery System.  In IR-2024-136, IRS highlights increased security for the Centralized Authorization File (CAF) program and on requesting client transcripts by phone due to concerns related to compromised CAF numbers and the practitioner’s sensitive personal information. The IRS says to “be on the lookout for unsolicited scam emails asking to provide credential information such as CAF number, Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) information and driver’s license”. Tax professionals who receive these unsolicited emails should report them to phishing@irs.govTreasury, IRS issue frequently asked questions regarding disaster relief related to retirement plans and IRAs. In IR-2024-132, FAQs were issued in Fact Sheet 2024-19, relating to rules for distributions from retirement plans and IRAs and for retirement plan loans, for those “impacted by federally declared major disasters.”IRS Releases Its Strategic Operating Plan.  In IR-2024-130 the IRS outlines and highlights its improvements internally and its focus per the Inflation Reduction Act while admitting to funding challenges.  Included therein is the reinstatement of the IRS’ purpose to improve taxpayer services and expand enforcement “on taxpayers with complex tax filings and high-dollar noncompliance to address the tax gap.”  Expanding on this topic, the IRS’ audit focus will be on “the wealthiest taxpayers, large corporations and large, complex partnerships by sizable percentages for tax year 2026” and in doing so, the IRS plans to:

• Nearly 3x audit rates on large corporations with assets over $250 million to 22.6% in tax year 2026 (up from 8.8% in tax year 2019).
• Increase audit rates by about 10- fold on large, complex partnerships with assets over $10 million (from 0.1% in 2019 to 1% in tax year 2026).
• Increase audit rates by more than 50% on wealthy individual taxpayers with total positive income over $10 million (audit rates at an 11% coverage rate in 2019 to 16.5% in tax year 2026).
• IRS continues to emphasize not increase audits for small businesses and taxpayers making under $400,000 which “remain at historically low levels”.